Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote speaks during the first plenary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Abuja May 8, 2014. Dangote said on Thursday he will invest $2.3 billion in sugar and rice production in the north of the country. Dangote, who is Africa's richest man, told the World Economic Forum in Abuja that creating employment was key to ending an insurgency in the region. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde

China-based Sinoma International Engineering Co. signed a contract worth £2.8 billion (AU$6 billion) on Wednesday with Nigerian Dangote Cement, owned by the richest man of Africa, Aliko Dangote. The deal involved building cement factories across 13 countries, including 12 factories in Africa and one in Nepal in Asia.

The establishment of these factories will supplement the quantity of cement that the Dangote firm used to produce earlier, increasing 45 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes more and making the total production of around 70 million tonnes per annum.

The deal was signed by Dangote Group’s President Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Sinoma’s CEO Shen Jun in the presence of the ambassadors of some of the recipient countries. Dangote Group excels in producing not only cement, but also food and fertilisers, and makes huge investments in oil refineries.

Dangote is well aware of the economic challenges being faced by China in recent times and hence he ensured lower oil prices. “Of course we are affected ... but we are not badly affected because we are not 100 percent in oil,” he said. He specified that the company deals with several businesses, so if one business is negatively affected, it hardly throws impact on the company status and that is the best thing about dealing in diverse fields.

Infrastructure development is very prominent in Africa and therefore, cement production becomes one of the most vital businesses over there. For the construction project, Sinoma plans to source equipment from Germany. Other than Nepal, the plants will be set-up in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Zambia and Niger.

“The projects are going to be delivered within the next 30 months ... We are not going to stop there. By 2020 we are targeting 100 million tonnes,” Dangote stated. In July, he claimed the sales outside Nigeria increased to 14 percent as of June 30, which was 3 percent a year earlier.

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